Talk on FDR by Pulitzer laureate David Kennedy at DCC

President Franklin D. Roosevelt in his wheelchair on the porch at Top Cottage in Hyde Park with Ruthie Bie and Fala in 1941. (Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum)

Pulitzer Prizewinning historian Dr. David Kennedy, Stanford University professor emeritus, will discuss Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s life, presidency and legacy on Thursday, October 19 at 7 p.m. at the James and Betty Hall Theatre on the Dutchess Community College (DCC) campus at 90 Cottage Road in Poughkeepsie. Kennedy is the author of several books including Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War. Freedom from Fear tells the story of the New Deal’s achievements, without slighting its shortcomings, contradictions and failures. It is a story rich in drama and peopled with unforgettable personalities, including the incandescent-but-enigmatic figure of Roosevelt himself.

Kennedy received his PhD in American Studies from Yale. His scholarship is notable for its integration of economic and cultural analysis with social and political history. His 1970 book Birth Control in America: The Career of Margaret Sanger embraced the medical, legal, political and religious dimensions of the subject and helped pioneer the emerging field of Women’s History. Over Here: The First World War and American Society (1980) used the history of American involvement in World War I to analyze the American political system, economy and culture in the early 20th century. The Pulitzer Prizewinning Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War (1999) recounts the history of the US in the two great crises of the Great Depression and World War II.

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This is the inaugural event in the David Conklin Distinguished Lecture Series, established to recognize DCC’s fourth president, who retired in 2014. This lecture is free and open to the public. Visitors are advised to park in Lot D. For more information, call (845) 431-8400.